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Walther PPQ Review

The Walther PPQ, which stands for Police Pistol Quick Defense, is a semi-automatic pistol developed by Carl Walther as a potential replacement for the Walther P99. It is available in either 9mm or .40 S&W.

The PPQ isn’t a complete new design from the ground up, as it takes design features from both the Walther P99QA and the Walther P99 RAD. Because of this, the PPQ maintains compatibility with both P99 sights and P99 second-generation magazines and other accessories.

Features

The biggest new feature from the P99QA and P99 RAD is the redesigned, and excellent, Quick Defense trigger.

Quick Defense Trigger

The new Quick Defense trigger on the Walther PPQ is simply amazing. The PPQ has a pre-cocked striker fired action. The trigger pull is a smooth 5.5 lbs, with a clean break after just .4 inches of travel. This part is fantastic, it really is, but even better is the trigger reset. It’s just .1 inches. Put together, this is the best trigger I’ve ever used on a factory pistol that wasn’t a single-action 1911.

Ergonomics

After the Quick Defense Trigger, the next best selling feature of the Walther PPQ in my opinion is the overall ergonomics of the pistol. I have always thought that Walther has gotten ergonomics right on their pistols, and the PPQ is the best yet. It simply fits your hand like a well worn glove. Included with the pistol are small, medium and large interchangeable backstraps for different size hands.

All controls are fully ambidextrous, and the pistol has a MIL-SPEC Picatinny rail for attaching accessories like a light or laser.

Specifications

Caliber

9mm/.40 S&W

Capacity

15+1

Action

Striker-Fire

Barrel

4″

Overall Length

7.1″

Height

5.3″

Width

1.3″

Weight

24.5 oz

Grips

Textured polymer

Sight Radius

6.1″

Finish

Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide

Magazine

2 – 15 round, 17 round optional

Intended Use

The Walther PPQ isn’t a small gun, but I wouldn’t classify it as a full-sized gun either. It’s somewhere in between. My take is that it is primarily an open carry gun as its Police Pistol name suggests, and not a concealed carry gun. The 15 round flush fitting magazines (17 round mags supposedly are available, though at the time of writing I have yet to find them) means that it stacks up against the also excellent Glock 19, and is roughly the same size.

Having said that, something about the PPQ makes it feel more compact that it really is. Perhaps it’s the excellent ergonomics, or the tapered slide, or the curvature of the grip. Whatever it is, this gun carries smaller than its size, and I find myself adjusting the way I dress more and more to concealed carry this excellent pistol.

Carry Options

Since it’s relatively new at the time of writing, there aren’t a ton of holsters available. There is an excellent holster that I can recommend though, and that’s a custom IWB holster from Theis Holsters (see my Theis Holster review).

It’s not the smallest concealed carry gun in the world for sure, but I really don’t have any trouble carrying my Walther PPQ in my Theis Holster. The holster fit is great, and at the 4-5 o’clock position, the PPQ really hugs the curvature of your back, meaning it conceals nicely with a simple over garment.

Shooting Impressions

As I mentioned, the PPQ trigger is simply fantastic. The trigger is crisp and predictable with an extremely short reset, making follow-up shots very fast. The three dot sights are good, and with the excellent ergonomics, recoil is mild.

Reliability

So far I have shot about 400 rounds through the PPQ, all of which were shot before the gun had been cleaned or lubed the first time. The gun has run completely flawless without a single hiccup, using various factory loads, both full metal jacket and hollow point. I will update this post over time as I shoot it more, but I expect reliability to be top notch.

Accuracy

Accuracy with the Walther PPQ has also been great. I started out with the pistol at 7 yards, and then moved to 10, 15 and 25 yards. At 25 yards, the dot on the front sight covers up most of the center of the target, meaning your groups will open up a bit, but accuracy was still good.

Of course, this pistol wasn’t designed for 25 yard shooting, it’s just fun to try it out and see what it can do. I have not yet bench rested the pistol, but at 15 yards and closer, this pistol is everything you could ask for.

Wrapping Up

I really like the Walther PPQ. The trigger and ergonomics are amazing, the pistol is reliable, accurate, and can be both a concealed carry gun as well as an open carry gun. What more could you want?

Mini Endurance Test

I decided to keep track of the number of rounds fired through my PPQ as well as the number of malfunctions. Check out the post below to get started!

Have you tried out the Caracal F/C trigger? I agree that the PPQ trigger is absolutely phenomenal but I’d have to say the Caracal trigger is slightly better. Same short travel as the PPQ and same short reset, but I felt that the reset was more positive like a Glock’s with the “get there now” type of reset as you so eloquently put it.

I just purchased the new PPQ M2, my LGS has some of the first in the country! Walther won’t be selling them until early March. The M2 variant has the standard ‘button’ mag release and while Walther kept that amazing trigger, it has been modified slightly and has a more proficient reset now. Check it out, one hell of a handgun. IMHO it is now perhaps the greatest polymer pistol ever made.

Sounds real good, just picked up my M2 a couple of weeks ago at small gun
show. Haven’t shot it yet, still waiting on practice ammo to come in, keep me informed of all the new stuff for this great gun.

The Walther PPQ has been an absolute joy to buy, hold and most importantly, shoot. With large amounts of training I do in my private time, I try to stick with the 9mm for cost reasons and availability. After deciding I wanted to replace my Sig Sauer P229 9mm I debated, researched and fired the Walther PPQ 9mm, Walther P99 9mm, Beretta M9A1 9mm, Beretta PX4 9mm, Heckler and Koch P30L 9mm, Smith and Wesson M&P Pro 9mm, Springfield XM Tactical 9mm, Glock 17 9mm, Glock 34 9mm and Sig Sauer P226 9mm. All of these pistols were put on trial by me at a local gun range over the course of approximately a month and all pistols had the same manufactured 200 rounds of full metal jacket put through them. The Walther PPQ was the second to the last pistol I tried and it was fantastic. The ergonomics, the recoil, the handling, the superb trigger and the extremely good accuracy. Undoubtedly the Walther PPQ wasn’t at the top of my list for a possible replacement at first but after firing it this pistol is definitely what we call, “On time and on target”. To give a little more weight to my opinion I served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2001-2005, worked for private contractors through the D.o.D. in the Middle East from 2005-2008, and now I am a law enforcement officer in the State of Florida. In all that time I have shot and qualified and been an expert with numerous pistols and by far the Walther PPQ is the best weapon for me. Today, I put 1,000 rounds of Fiocchi 115 grain full metal jacket through my Walther PPQ without any cleaning during the course and it did spectacular. During the firing I didn’t experience one failure to feed, failure to fire, stovepipe, magazine problem or anything. My Walther PPQ now has 1,500 rounds fired through it without a single issue. This is something I cant even say about my duty issue Glock 22. 40S&W. With my brand new duty issued Glock 22 in September 2013 I fired 1,000 rounds through the same course with Federal 180 grain full metal jacket and experienced 1 stovepipe, 1 failure to feed and 1 failure to eject properly. This pistol is so good I have decided to assist my fiancé and family in getting their hands on one and I would never recommend something to them I didn’t absolutely trust with their lives and mine. If your considering getting a pistol, do yourself a favor and at least look and try one of these wonderful pistols.